The Competition is about Hope
by Katherine's Sue Slayer
Summary: Most Clue hunters found the Clues Vinegar and Copper with Hope Cahill. But where did she find them? Title is secret message from The Sword Thief. Two-Shot
1. Vinegar

**Vinegar**

**Louisiana, 1986**

Hope normally loved big cities. But not cities occupied by Tomas.

She had come to New Orleans on a small hint. A small scrap of paper in her mother's book of hints. It had the name Andrew Jackson on it, and the number 1814. Which obviously indicated the Battle of New Orleans. A quick check on the Madrigal database revealed that the city had been controlled by Tomas for centuries. And those Tomas were hiding something.

Most Madrigals didn't agree with Hope about finding the Clues. But those few who stood by her had located eight Tomas Clues throughout the world. A lost notebook of Gideon's, held in a top-secret vault on Cahill Island, revealed that there were nine, but didn't reveal any of them. So it was up to Hope's posse to find them and keep them out of the hands of other Cahills. Or worse…

She snapped back into reality and glanced at her list. She had visited most of the important battle sites and buildings. Next up was the Ursuline Convent, a church where nuns had prayed for long hours during the battle for victory. Andrew Jackson himself had attributed their prayers to the American victory.

There, on the left. Her guidebook called it, "the finest surviving example of French colonial public architecture in the country." Normally she would have stayed for hours, examining everything, right down to the window molding **(you get it?)**, but she had a job to do.

She paid the entrance fee and entered the church. Any of these nicely decorated rooms could contain the treasure she sought.

She ducked into the confessional. It was a bare room, furnished with nothing but a small wooden bench.

Hope took a closer look. The bottom of the bench was covered in carvings of "Jeff was here" and "Mitch loves Angela" and the like. But one initial stood out.

It was a T. Nothing special. Except a small perpendicular line on the bottom of the letter, making it look like someone's knife had slipped.

Hope knew the truth.

The T was the secret symbol of the Tomas. Their standard-issue bear crest was too obvious in some cases. Very few non-Tomas knew of its existence. Or what it could do.

She pressed the letter in, and there was a low rumbling. A secret passage opened up right beneath her, and she fell into the black.

Fortunately, it wasn't a long fall. Obviously meant for the entertainment of pain-tolerant Tomas. But Hope wasn't that lucky. When she came to, her arms were bleeding, her jeans ripped in several places, and her hair out of its normal ponytail, falling in her face.

_And I thought only Aunt Beatrice would worry about those things at a time like this, _she thought. Her annoying aunt had given up the Clues when she was a teenager and now spent her time collecting ceramic cats and sending annoying notes to her ex-second husband, Jean-Luc. Her other husbands had died within 10 years of divorce, but Beatrice didn't seem to mind.

She finally regained her wits and looked around. A natural cave, clearly selected by lazy Tomas needing a stronghold. Didn't stay in use for very long, by the looks of things. But caution was always wise.

Hope pulled out a keychain flashlight and started exploring the cave. Boxes were stacked everywhere, and a wooden ladder sat near the cave entrance. Clearly rotted beyond use.

Hope began shuffling through the boxes. They weren't in any rhyme or reason, totally haphazard. One was full of bullet casings, another full of animal spines. Only one held any sort of hint. It was full of Andrew Jackson correspondence. Most were about the war and the defense of New Orleans, but one bore the Tomas crest. It was unopened.

Hope was a historian at heart, really. She couldn't believe her luck finding this treasure trove of Jackson letters, even an unopened one! But she knew the fate of the world was more important than her own desires.

She ripped off the seal. A small vial tumbled out, and two notes. She examined the vial. A smell test revealed that it was vinegar. That must be the Clue.

The fist note read,

Found this on the body of Robert Ross. You can thank Elias Williams for giving his life to take him out.

Hope knew Ross was the British general in charge of the invasion force in New England. And now she knew the name of the anonymous sniper who took him out.

The second note said,

Stolen from Madrigals. Luke would be proud.

No signature.

_It was stolen from Madrigals by Lucians, then from Lucians by Tomas, and now it's back in our hands._

_If I can get out of here._

The ladder appeared to be the only way out. She'd have to risk it.

Hope propped it up into the shaft she had fallen through. It was just tall enough. She cautiously climbed it, being as light as she could. Amazingly, it held. She was home free.

Or not. Two muscled men in blue uniforms appeared out of nowhere back in the church. "Stop, thief!" they yelled as they gave pursuit. Hope was in excellent shape, but these muscleheads were in even better fitness.

_Since when did the Tomas recruit Olympic sprinters for security?_

Hope burst through the wooden door. She felt the vial that was causing her so much trouble in her jeans pocket. She scanned the streets for her ride.

_Come on, where are you?_

Finally, she spotted the baby-blue Corvette. She dove into the back seat, and was greeted by her mother.

"Are you OK? Did you get it?"

"Vinegar."

"Oh, your father would be so proud."

Hope's father had been killed in a car "accident" when Hope was seven. She had been traveling the world with her mother since that day.

She looked back, and saw the Tomases catching their breath quite aways back. They were safe. And the Madrigals had gotten their Clue back.


	2. Copper

**Copper**

**South Dakota, 1993**

Hope had to admit, if there was one good thing about constantly traveling the world, running from dozens of people who want your secrets, looking for ingredients to a recipe to world domination, it sure was good for husband-wife bonding.

She was staring at Arthur's sweat-soaked back, as she had been doing constantly for the past few hours, pedaling away at their tandem bicycle. It was a lot let conspicuous than a car, and cheaper, too.

They were biking through the Black Hills in South Dakota, intent on reaching Mount Rushmore. They were following a lead from Madrigal Deng Xiaoping, a former leader in China. It was a poem from Richard Nixon, another Madrigal, on his famous visit to China.

Their poem read:

_Four of stone_

_Hill of black_

_Walk in glass_

_Touch the eye_

Four lines that Arthur had deciphered to point to Mount Rushmore. Four of stone was the four heads. Hill of black meant the Black Hills.

They had set out from Rapid City, and so far had had no trouble, except for one run-in with a black van. It had almost hit them, but they were fine now.

Hope saw the face of President Lincoln over Arthur's head. _We're almost there._

UJGFGHKJF

Pulling into the Mount Rushmore State Park parking lot, Arthur popped the wheels off the bike. He didn't say why, but Hope guessed it was related to the black van. She went up to the admission booth, and bought two passes.

When she got back, Arthur had tied the wheels together, and attached them to Hope's black backpack. The main frame of the bike was tied to Arthur's green pack. She handed Arthur his park pass, and they began their hike.

JYTJGHFJTH

The hike was exhausting, but they finally made it to the top of the mountain. Most of the trek was off-trail, considering the park rangers enforcing the no-climb rule. But here they were.

They looked at the four heads carved into the mountain. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln.

"Walk in glass…" Arthur glanced at Theodore Roosevelt's glasses, and grinned. "Come on, this'll be fun."

They walked up to his glasses. "The last line of the poem is _Touch the Eye_, but which one?" Hope asked.

"Both," replied Arthur.

They touched the president's pupils, and they opened. Hope and Arthur walked into the black.

UGFYUF

After several yards, Hope and Arthur stumbled into a lit corridor. There was a glass door with a keypad next to it. This door was embedded into the stone wall. The keypad red:

ENTER_SECURITY_CODE

Through the glass, Hope saw two men and a woman. One of the men wore a suit, with a blood-red tie. His hair was graying. The other man wore a blue collared shirt, and had thick glasses. The woman wore a white blouse and a gray skirt. Her salt-and-pepper hair was pulled back into a tight bun.

Hope hid behind the wall to evade detection. Arthur was crouched on the other side of the door, messing with the keypad. Eventually he got the cover off and started messing with the wiring. After a few minutes, the door slid open.

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTURDER ALERT!" a siren wailed. Arthur instinctively grabbed the bike frame off his pack and smashed the face of the younger man. Hope took down the woman with a karate kick, and together they tackled the old man.

Hope was running towards another door when she saw Arthur dragging the young man's unconscious body behind a cabinet. Hope caught on immediately, and grabbed the woman's body. Disguise time.

JYFUJFF

A few minutes later, Hope emerged, wearing a white blouse, a skirt, and with her hair in a bun. Thank goodness the two women had the same hair color.

She looked at the Vesper ID card in the skirt pocket. It read 'Amy Cooper'. _Such a pretty name… _The card had a lanyard attached, which Hope slipped around her neck.

Arthur walked up to her, now in glasses and a collared shirt. His card read Randy DePlotz. "Hello, Amy," Arthur said. Hope smiled.

They walked into the nearby corridor, and came to another door. There was another keypad, with the exact same message: ENTER_SECURITY_CODE.

There were no screws on this one, however. "You got anything on you, Amy?" Arthur asked.

She looked through her skirt pockets. A pen, a key ring, and - what's this? - a folded piece of paper. She pulled it out, unfolded it, and read off it:

9-4-0-1

Arthur punched in the code, and the door slid open.

Inside the room were dozens of filing cabinets, and several tables with file folders on them. Hope started checking all the cabinets, while Arthur scanned through the folders on the tables. There had to be something here.

UFGHFHGF

At long last, Hope found a small vial, containing a vial with a small piece of metal inside. She turned to Arthur, beaming, with the vial in her hands, while he was looking through an overstuffed manila folder.

"Look at this," he said.

It contained plans for an Operation Stonehead. The first document seemed to be a summary of the whole project.

OBJECTIVE: Capture Madrigal agents using a false lead to a Vesper headquarters.

STATUS REPORTS:

9/12/24 Agent: Gutzon Borglum

Have been granted permission to sculpt a statue on Mount Rushmore. Plan to use statue as cover-up for Vesper base.

11/3/41 Agent: Lincoln Borglum

Statue and base completed.

2/23/72 Agent: Richard Nixon

Gave poem to Madrigal agent Deng Xiaoping. Expecting attempted Madrigal infiltration soon.

8/30/85 Agent: Charles Knott

Stole Clue from Madrigal headquarters.

5/3/93 Agent: Randy DePlotz

Surveillance reveals Xiaoping giving poem to Madrigal agent Hope Cahill. Expecting her soon.

Arthur and Hope locked eyes. If they were expecting them…

Time to go!

JHTFHJT

Barely evading detection, they finally made it out of the Vesper sanctuary. They practically sprinted back to the parking lot, popped the wheels back on the bike, and frantically started pedaling back to Rapid City. Hope had let her hair down, and Arthur had ditched the glasses, but otherwise they were still in their disguises.

UTF

On the drive back to Massachusetts, Hope analysed the mysterious vial. Best she could tell, it was copper. When they got back, they would find out for sure.

"Hey, Artie, can we stop over there," she motioned to a Taco Bell, "and get me some nachos?"

"I thought you hated nachos," he said.

"Hmm. Must be some weird craving."

"WHAT?"


End file.
